1969 Finals Game 7 Russell Final Game

Lore & Background

The Los Angeles Lakers had won 55 games in the regular season, seven more than the Boston Celtics, and therefore held homecourt advantage for the first time ever in an NBA Finals meeting vs. the Russell-led Celtics. Both teams had their share of problems in the regular season. Though the Lakers's acquisition of star center Wilt Chamberlain before the season prompted many observers to predict for them the title that had previously eluded them, their arrival at the Finals had not been easy; the season could have been described as a 'soap opera'; Chamberlain and reigning Laker superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West had some difficulty in meshing their accustomed styles.

Second-year coach Butch van Breda Kolff and Chamberlain also clashed terribly throughout the season, frustrating the entire team. In Boston, player-coach Bill Russell was suffering from age and exhaustion, hampering the team both as the starting center and as the coach. In addition, perennial scorer Sam Jones played so poorly that he lost his position as starting shooting guard to Larry Siegfried. The Lakers’ appearance in the Finals was expected, but they lost the first two games of the Western Division semifinals to the San Francisco Warriors on their home court before prevailing, and then outlasted the Atlanta Hawks 4 games to 1 to gain the rematch with the Celtics.

Boston's campaign was considered a surprise. They upset the 2nd place 76ers and were fortunate that the 3rd place Knicks upset the 1st place Bullets; Boston then knocked off New York in the Eastern Division finals. In that series, the home team won all of its games, except for Game 7.

Reader's Guide

On the hardwood, there were several key matchups. At center, low scoring, defensive stalwart Celtics center Bill Russell was matched up against his long-time rival and friend Wilt Chamberlain (Lakers), multiple time scoring champion. At forward, agile Celtic Bailey Howell played against perennial All-NBA member Elgin Baylor, captain of the Lakers, while Laker Keith Erickson tried to slow down high-scoring Celtics forward John Havlicek. At guard, a somewhat revitalised Sam Jones was matched up against Lakers superstar Jerry West.

X-factors on both teams respectively were Don Nelson, the sixth man of the Celtics, and sharpshooting Laker Johnny Egan, the only other pure guard besides West on the L.A. roster. The Celtics won the series 4–3. In Game 7, with only two true guards on the Laker roster and West still feeling the effects of a hamstring pull, Celtics coach Russell ordered his players to fast break at every opportunity. Los Angeles shot poorly in the early going, and the Celtics jumped out to a first-quarter 24–12 lead which was cut to 59–56 at halftime.

Then, Celtics sixth man Don Nelson scored 12 points in the third quarter, while the Lakers hardly connected on a quarter of their field goal attempts: the Celtics led 91–76 after the third. Early in the fourth quarter, Chamberlain incurred his fifth foul and had to play more tentative defense. Then, with just over 5 minutes remaining and the Lakers trailing 103–94, Chamberlain landed awkwardly when grabbing a rebound and came to the bench with an injured knee.

Behind backup center Mel Counts, the Lakers cut the lead to 103–102 with two minutes left. Chamberlain then informed Van Breda Kolff that he was ready to return, but the coach told the superstar center 'we're doing fine without you', and Chamberlain stayed on the bench. Boston still held.

Did You Know?

• The Celtics became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 2–0 series deficit to win the championship.
• This series is notable in that West, with an average of nearly 38 points a game, won the Finals Most Valuable Player award, despite being on the losing team.
• The Celtics remain the only 4th seed team to win the Finals and the second-lowest seeded team overall to win the Finals after the Houston Rockets in 1995.
• In Game 4, the Lakers had a one-point lead with 7 seconds left and the ball, but after receiving an inbound pass along the sideline, Baylor was controversially ruled to have stepped out of bounds, causing a turnover.